Ayatollah Syed Ali Hosseini Khamenei was laid to rest in Tehran on Friday. As Iran’s Supreme Leader, Khamenei occupied a position of immense political and spiritual authority across the Shia world. India’s decision to be represented at his funeral by a relatively junior delegation has therefore generated a debate extending well beyond protocol: Has India, almost imperceptibly, moved away from the strategic autonomy that once made its diplomacy distinctive?

The relationship between India and Persia is civilisational before it is strategic. Yet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tel Aviv immediately before hostilities between Israel and Iran inevitably shaped regional perceptions. The timing suggested to many that India was identifying itself more closely with one side of a deeply polarised regional conflict, that India had moved away from non-alignment and towards the United States and Israel. India’s abstentions on several United Nations resolutions calling for an end to the violence further reinforced the impression.

Admittedly, none of this diminishes the importance of India’s growing partnership with Israel and the United States. Israel has become one of India’s most valuable defence partners. The United States is India’s leading strategic partner, balancing........

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